Return to Reykjavik
by Tigerlily74
Summary: After 20 years, Aria returns to Iceland with her new family, dredging up her up past in every frosted step.
1. View of a Lifetime

"Ezra," I call, staring out a clear airplane window. "Come look at the view, it's beautiful!" Ezra turned his dark blue eyes to my hazel ones to look out the window and gaped at the beautiful sight. The magnificent view- large mountains sprinkled with snow at the top, the bluest waters you will ever see and a clear, shimmering sky.

"Maddie, Jay," I call two my children, who are playing some game that I apparently don't understand on their phones. "Look out your window," I say, gesturing towards the clear window and the beautiful view.

"Not now, Mom," Jay grunts, obviously annoyed by my comment.

"Seriously, you guys, you don't want to miss this!" I try to convince two of the most stubborn children in the history of the world.

Both of them sigh in unison, turning their heads to look at me and then back at the window.

I breathed out of my nose contentedly, marveling at my perfect live. My friends and I had stayed in contact all these years, despite not being in the same place. My new family was picturesque; Ezra being the perfect, loving and caring husband I had always fantasized about and the best children I could ask for; however stubborn. Maddie, having just turned 15, around the age I was when my family moved to Iceland for a year, looked so much like me it was astonishing. Maddie had long, dark hair that was carelessly pulled into bun that rested gently on the top of her head. Her hazel eyes were fixated on the window, and she seemed to be wallowing in the natural beauty of a country foreign to her. She, quite alike her mother and father, enjoyed writing, and had even one a short story competition with her prize winning "I Saw A Rainbow." Jay, on the other hand, reminded me of Mike, and Ezra always said that he had a touch of Wes, his brother, and Byron, my father. He had caramel colored hair and Ezra's blue-gray eyes. He was definitely a feisty little creature, his temper sometimes running as high as Mike's had. But he was still a caring brother (for the most part,) much like my own. He didn't happen to enjoy writing as much as his sister, but he did enjoy reading- he would sometimes say that reading was like indulging in the fantasy that was not your own world. Maddie would always roll her eyes whenever that comment was made but I basked in the glory of the intelligence of my son's demeanor, considering that he was only 12. I looked back out my window, getting lost in my thoughts.


	2. A Story About Jana

When we finally arrived at our beautiful rental house, the exact one that I had stayed in all those years ago with my own parents and brother, I felt all the memories coming back to me. I remembered, walking up the same exact steps 20 years ago, with my pink-streaked hair, holding my faux-leather purse in one hand and my blue and black striped retro suitcase in the other. All of that had happened before A, before everything. But whenever I thought back to those dark days; the time when I was locked in a box with a dead body, the time that I was pinned to a wall, a plastic sheet covering me entirely, or the time that my friends and I were locked in a human dollhouse, forced to do whatever our tormentor told us, I had to remind myself that going through all of this strengthened my relationship with both Ezra and the girls; all of whom I couldn't imagine my life without. So, in some weird way, without A, I might not be where I am now, climbing up stairs that I've probably climbed up a hundred times all those years ago, reminiscing about the past.

I was suddenly snapped out of my thoughts when I heard a voice call, "Mom," I turned around and there was Jay, giving me an expression of annoyance.

"Uh, yeah, sorry, what?" I asked him, curious

"Can I call dibs on the Master?" he questioned me, a glint in his eye.

I chuckled a bit, "No, honey," I said, "Your father and I are going to be staying in that room. We'll leave it up to you and Mattie to decide which of the other two rooms is going to be yours, okay?" I asked, walking inside the house, and gesturing for my kids to follow. Ezra and Maddie went upstairs to arrange their rooms, while Jay and I sat and talked downstairs.

"Maddie," he called upstairs, "I call dibs on the bigger room,"

Maddie grunted. "Too bad, squirt, because I've already organized _my_ new room. Oh, and in case that wasn't clear, my room is the bigger one,"

"MADDIE!" Jay yelled, obviously annoyed

"Calm down, honey," I comforted, "There will be plenty of other opportunities for you to outdo your sister, ok?" I said, amused

Jay just grunted and silently dragged his checkered suitcase up the old, wooden staircase. I followed, my black suitcase in one hand, and another faux-leather purse in the other. The only difference between then and now, I thought, was that I didn't have those gothic-yet-chic-looking pink stripes in my hair. And, of course, that I had married the love of my life, had two amazing (yet slightly annoying) children, and I had gone through a whole lot more than I had back when I came here for the first time, and on and on and on. I probably could have gone on about this for hours, but I decided to stop wallowing in the past and focus on the present, to "live in the moment," as my mother had always said.

A while later, Ezra and I had decided to go for a walk out in the beautiful rolling tundra of Iceland. We had left Maddie and Jay when they said they had to do "homework," but of course, we suspected otherwise. But, they were teenagers, and we decided very early on that we were going to let them live up to their full potential, and not bound them with restraints. Of course there were some restraints like: they couldn't drink until they were at least 18, no unplanned house parties, no stray animals (Ezra is allergic to dogs, and he also almost got rabies once from taking in a stray animals so, lesson learned), oh, and, no dating your teacher (of course we had to include that one, not to be hypocritical at all) We still hadn't told our kids about our student/teacher affair and didn't plan to until the were at least out of college, so that they wouldn't be getting any bad ideas themselves. We strolled quietly out of the house, down the marble steps, and out into the Icelandic openness. We walked to a house pretty close to ours, where my Icelandic best friend, Jana, lived. Ezra and I chatted excitedly on the way there; I was super psyched to possibly visit my old Icelandic best friend, Jana, and Ezra was super psyched to be in Iceland in the first place; despite growing up in an extremely wealthy family, he hadn't been to many places, as his parents were always working when he was young, leaving little time for travel and fun. He had sometimes said that he and his brother, Wes, had pretty much grown up on their own, with the support of each other, since their parents, and especially mother, were so negligent. And of course, when Diane Fitzgerald was not neglecting her two children, she was prying in their business in some shape or form. Whether it was checking their garbage cans for possible "evidence" (of what, who knows!), or doing sophisticated background checks on all of their girlfriends, Mrs. Fitz was in the know. I had even learned recently that Diane had hired a Private Investigator to dredge up all of my past indiscretions, in hopes of presenting them to Ezra, and persuading him to break up with me. Of course, what she definitely didn't realize is that Ezra knew everything about me; from the torture I went through with A, to every class I took in college and to every single boy I had ever kissed. As we approached the steps of Jana's old house, I told Ezra some funny stories of things that Jana and I had done together.

"So we had this really mean teacher, and I mean like, _really_ mean, whenever we got a question wrong, he would write our name on the 'Dumb List'" I told Ezra

"That's terrible. I hope I wasn't that horrible of a teacher," he replied

"You weren't Ezra, why do you think I stayed with you?" I posed a rhetorical question humorously

"Thanks hon," he said, winking one eye. I grabbed his shoulders, and buried my head in his chest, laughing.

"Do you want to hear the rest of the story or not, _hon_ ," I mocked. He nodded at me, signaling that he was interested in the story.

"So anyways," I continued, "One day Jana and I were so sick of his insolence that we decided to get revenge," I added, "This is the part where you're supposed to 'ooh' and 'aah' remember?"

Ezra tried (and failed) to mock my 'oohs' and 'aahs' as I laughed loudly.

"Yeah, okay, I've learned something new about you today: you are _terrible_ at 'oohing' and 'aahing'," I joked

"Yeah, I think we've already established that, _hon"_ he teased me, as I lightly punched his chest.

"So one day, we noticed that this guy, this horrible teacher, Mr. Eriksson, had a bottle of lemonade sitting on his desk as we left his classroom for our free period. But, Jana had snagged his lemonade when he wasn't looking, and after we had excused ourselves, we filed into the bathroom, dumped out the lemonade from the bottle, and Jana um, _used the bathroom_ , in his lemonade bottle. She also always carried a bottle of seltzer water in her bag, so we added that to the pee-concoction, went back into Mr. Eriksson's classroom and placed the seltzer pee on his desk. And the best part is, when we were back in his class later that day, he took one giant swig of the lemonade/ other gross stuff, and said 'Wow, this lemonade is fantastic!' Jana and I had laughed so hard that day we almost peed our pants. It was hilarious."

"Wow," Ezra said, "I never knew my wife was a troublemaker," he glanced at me, amused, as I started to giggle. Suddenly, I heard a voice behind me.

"Aria?" someone said


	3. A Revenge Plot

I spun around, recognizing something from a long time ago in the voice. It was Jana.

"Jana?!" I exclaimed, as the two of us met in an embrace. Behind me, Ezra stood awkwardly, and behind Jana, a man who I vaguely recognized stood as well; if only I could put a name to the face. I thought for a good long second before remembering the name of a man from my past.

"Ariel," I spoke, softly, "Is that you?"

Jana nodded, "Yes, we're married now. And this must be your husband," she said, gesturing towards Ezra.

"Yeah, this is Ezra," I replied stiffly, nudging Ezra in the back.

"Nice to meet you," Ezra stuck out his hand expecting Jana to shake it.

"Oh, did Aria not tell you," Jana said, glancing at Aria, "I do not believe in shaking hands. Too formal. Instead, we high-five."

Aria watched as Jana's hand met Ezra's and created a loud snapping sound. Then, he ventured further, behind Jana, where he high-fived Ariel.

"Well, darlings, come inside. You can stay for dinner," Jana lead the way into her house, Ezra following her.

But, before we left, Ariel whispered something into my ear, "I remember what you did. I will always remember. And some day, I will get revenge," he quietly said with a glint in his eye and a smirk on his face. He watched my face slowly turn from a pale white to flushing a deep pink, and then slowly turned around to follow Jana and Ezra, who were politely chatting. Collecting myself, I spun around to follow the rest of the group.

An awkward dinner conversation followed: Ezra, Jana, Ariel and I talked, joked and chatted about the past. Jana shared another funny story about the school year we had endured together. She began by telling Ezra and Ariel that the students of their high school had met to discuss "Prank Day." Each grade would get an assigned day towards the end of the year to create and carry out a prank (of course this was student-administered). Our grade, the 10th grade, was assigned the Wednesday before all of us went off to the much waited for "summer" break, although in Iceland was usually about 50 degrees, not much of a summer from what I was used to.

"So, the 10th grade held a meeting at this guy- Raguel Salmar- the- _second_ -most-popular-guy-in-school- (of course in Iceland, the standards of "popular" were very different than those of a small, but devious nonetheless, town like Rosewood), and Aria's crush's house. We were having a "town meeting" of sorts, brainstorming on this big whiteboard that Raguel had. I forced Aria to put her hand up, yeah I was pretty bad back then, and Raguel called on her. We had just been talking about this awesome theme park that I had gone to over the long weekend- so she just blurted out, 'We should turn the hallways into a slip n' slide!' Of course, everyone went bezerk over that idea, jumping up and down, tackling each other in delight- you get the gist. When Prank Day finally came, at midnight, all of us 10th graders, or "10s" as the school called us, snuck quietly into the school and set up huge garbage bags and other inflatables for our slip n' slide. When we were done, we lined the huge mess with water, and tossed in some beach balls for fun. The next morning, oh my god, it was awesome. All the teachers were tossed around in a sea of blown up garbage bags and water, one of the teachers- Mr. Eriksson- was frantically attempting to stand up on our slip n' slide contraption, but utterly failing, trying to retrieve his briefcase, which he had lost in the uproar. That, literally, was the single best day of my life," Jana sighed.

"Hey, I thought the day you met me was the best day of your life?" Ariel inquired, shooting me a look. Jana turned to look at him, planting a soft kiss on his lips.

"Okay, Prank Day was the _second_ best day of my life," she smiled at him, and Ariel smiled back. He suddenly excused himself to go retrieve some things from the kitchen, as he claimed. He invited me to come with him, and I nodded reluctantly. During the time we were rehashing our past, I had almost forgotten about Ariel's little comment. Almost. Now, the fear was building up inside of me. My heart was beating so loud in my chest I was sure everyone within a half-mile radius could hear it. He pulled me into the kitchen, slowly.

"What do you want," I grunted, pretending to keep my cool.

"What I _want,_ who I want, is Magda, but obviously that's not going to happen. And it's all thanks to you," He spat.

"Look, Ariel, I already apologized. And, look, I feel _so_ bad for what I did, but it's been 20 years. You need to let her go," I said, softly.

"Don't you talk to me that way, like we're friends. We're not friends. Never will be. Not after what you did," he snapped.

"I've said sorry to you about one hundred times since then. I'm sorry, okay. I'm sorry for screwing up your life. But, what happened, happened. And there's no going back. I'm not asking you to forgive me. I'm just asking you to put up with me; if not for me, for Jana,"

"Forget about Jana. I don't love her, I never have. The one person I did love, the one person in this world, you took away from me. Magda never should have been the one to die that day. It should have been you," he hissed.

I shook my head and walked away from him, a glass of water in my hand. He is such a jerk, I thought. I know what I did, and I know he's not going to forgive me. But, he really needs to move on. It's been 20 years, and he's still hung up on that girl, I spoke quietly, to myself.

I sat back down at the table, silently sipping my water. Ezra shot me a look that read, 'Are you okay?' but I just nodded mechanically, staring at the austere wood table. Ariel sat down, quietly, and the four of us engaged in conversation. Every once in a while, Ariel would slip me a glare, and I would just return his gaze with a colder, harder one. When the clock struck nine, Ezra and I told our host and hostess that we should probably get going home to our kids. I shared a hug with Jana and shook hands with Ariel as Ezra and I stepped off their porch and walked the short distance to our house. I was trying to concentrate on the fact that we were in Iceland, beautiful Iceland, with my two wonderful children and their amazing father. But, it was impossible. My mind just kept drifting away, exploring the hidden depths of that forgotten night, the night that changed everything, the night that Magda died. Since just a few moments ago, I had never spoke of that night with anyone, not even telling Ezra. Whenever I thought of it, so much guilt wracked my brain, that I was forced to put it out of my mind, or face the consequences. I knew I had to tell Ezra before someone else did- before Ariel did. That was definitely something he would do, ruin my relationship just to avenge what he had lost with Magda.

Ezra and I returned home to find both of our children already tucked into their beds, bundled up under the sheets. We kissed them goodnight, slipped into our own pajamas, and curled up together under the blankets to talk. Now was the perfect time to tell him, I thought. But then I saw how he was looking at me, it was an expression so full of love, that I couldn't bear to tell him what I had did, and take the chance that he would never look at me the same way ever again.


	4. A Familiar Face?

_**A/N: Thanks for being so patient! I know I haven't updated this in a while- I have been very very busy. However, I have written out several chapters on my day off, and I will publish one every few days. Again, thanks so much! So this chapter will start out 36 hours from when we last saw the characters (Aria and Ezra had just gone to sleep after that awkward dinner party with Jana and Ariel). Then we'll rewind and tell the story of how we got there. Decided to try this to make things more interesting :D**_

36 HRS LATER…

"Help!" Maddie screamed, her body slung over the side of a cliff. "Help me, mom!" I saw she was beginning to lose her grip as my heart started to thud. In my head, I began to configure ways that I could get across the valley in less than a minute. Maddie's voice rang in my head. I have to figure out a way, I thought. Nearby, I saw a rope, and I grabbed it. I tied one side securely to my waist and the other to a tree about 2 feet away. I was just about to lower myself into the vast depths of the valley's edge, but stopped, as I saw a hooded figure begin to slowly bring Maddie up onto the platform. I sighed gratefully as I hopped in my car and quickly drove around the valley, to where Maddie was sitting, panting.

"Maddie, honey, are you ok?" I gasped, hugging her.

"I will be, soon," she wheezed, looking at me.

"Did you see who helped you?" I asked her, figuring she must have caught a glimpse of the caped crusader who had come to her rescue. But, she just shook her head. Automatically, I was reminded of the time Spencer had almost fallen off the bell tower to her death; her savior was none other than a black-hooded figure, a costume we had associated with horror. We later found out that Spencer's savior was Alison DiLaurentis, our dead-not-dead best friend, but this situation seemed, nonetheless, parallel.

"Aria," called a figure with dark brown hair styled in tousled waves, and suited in a red coat called.

"Alison?"

36 HOURS BEFORE…

I yawned and stretched my arms way above my head, and sighed happily as I saw my husband, Ezra, sleeping quietly, with his eyes closed. I had always thought he looked adorable while sleeping - but make an executive decision not to tell him that. I kissed him gently on the forehead and raised myself out of bed to get ready for the day.

I walked downstairs to greet Maddie and Jay. As I arrived, they were both sitting down at our circular wooden table, munching on cheerios, and Jay was reading the newspaper.

Maddie snorted, "Jay looks like a grandpa," looking at me.

"I do not!" Jay fired back, as I laughed, amused.

"You guys, it's time to get to school! First day, who's excited?!" I asked, as they both grunted, unanimously.

The three of us loaded up in the car, said goodbye to Ezra, and headed off to their school, the very one I had attended. During the long drive, I told Maddie and Jay some of my fondest memories of the place; including the time Jana and I replaced our teacher's lemonade with pee. They'll probably hang that over my head for a while, but it was worth it to see their reaction. When we finally arrived at the school, I took a look around, breathing in the air around me, and recognizing the familiar landscape. I walked them inside, and instantly recognized a memorial for a girl I knew many years ago. Staring me in the face was Madga Johanessburg.

 **Sorry this chapter was so short. The next one will be longer, I promise.**


	5. The Truth Always Comes Out

**A/N: So, the story will pick up where we last left off. If you don't remember, we first flashed forward 36 hours when Maddie almost fell off a cliff, and then we backed up. So, where we left off Aria just saw a memorial for Magda.**

"Mom," said Maddie. "Mom, what's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing." I replied, but knew that Maddie knew something was up. She gave me a weird glance, which I just shrugged off. I lead them to the front desk; where they would pick up their class schedules.

"Maddie and Jay Fitz" I said, as the receptionist handed me two class schedules. "Ok, Maddie, you have English first, room 402. And Jay you have bio, room 312." I glanced at them, "Think you can figure out where your classes are or do you want me to take you?" I asked them.

The two of them looked at each other and Jay said, "No, we got it."

So I left. To be honest, the whole car ride back was just a blur. I couldn't stop thinking about poor Magda, and being in a car definitely didn't help. When I finally got home, I knew I had to tell Ezra once he got back from work. I spent what seemed like hours on the bed, planning out exactly how to tell Ezra about what I did; about the terrible thing that I did. After a while, I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I remember is Ezra's worried face looking down at me.

"Hey," I mumbled.

"Hey," he said back. "Look, I have to tell you something," I could tell by the look in his eye it was something big. Oh no, I thought. Did he cheat on me? What if he cheated on me? What if he wants a divorce?

"I have to tell you something too," I said, pretending to stay calm.

"You go first," he nodded at me. e

"It's okay, you go," I replied, nervous.

"Ok," Ezra glanced at me, worriedly. "Maggie is here," he said, evenly.

Maggie. Maggie. Maggie. Maggie? I racked my brain for any memory of a person called Maggie.

"So is Malcolm," he continued

Malcolm. Maggie. Oh, now I remember. Maggie is that evil little witch who told Ezra that Malcolm was his son.

"There's more," he kept going, as I thought to myself, what more could there possibly be? "Malcolm's father, Preston is with them. And so is his friend…."

"Who's the friend?" I asked, scared for the answer.

"Holbrook, that cop, remember him." Wow, this was a lot to process. My husband's high school girlfriend is here with her husband and her son. And so is one of the cops that tortured me and my friends in high school. Seriously, I should be freaking out more right now.

"Well, if it wasn't a small world before, it certainly is now," I replied. "Um, so, have you talked to them?" I asked, curious.

"No, not yet. I saw them around town this morning. I recognized Maggie immediately, but it took me a while to recognize Malcolm… he's huge now. And Holbrook… well, I think he saw me. He shot a smirk in my direction." Ezra said, stroking my cheek. "Anyways, what were you going to tell me?" he questioned.

"Oh, nothing, it can wait." I said, and he leaned in for a kiss. "Wait!" I spoke aloud, as my eyes popped open. "Sorry, it can't wait. I really have to tell you something." he nodded, worriedly.

So I told him the story; the story of what happened to Magda Johanessburg.

 _It was late, around 11 o' clock. Magda and I had been drinking, along with our friend, Ellie._

" _It's getting late," I had said, glancing out the window and seeing nothing but blackness._

" _Aria, you're too drunk to drive. So am I. So is Magda," she shot me a worried glance as we saw Magda downing another shot._

" _Hey, Magda, I think you've had enough," I gently took the shot out of Magda's hand, as she glared at me._

" _Hey, I wanted that," she said, but I turned to talk to Ellie._

" _I have to get home. My parents are going to kill me. And I think I'm sober enough, I'll drive us home." I said._

" _No, Aria, that's not a good idea," Ellie replied. If only I had listened to her._

 _Soon, I had pulled my gray subaru up to the front door of the bar and loaded Magda in the front seat next to me, and Ellie in the back. I started to pull out of the driveway, when this black limo came out of nowhere, and crashed into my car, on Magda's side. I swear, it was one of the scariest moments of my life. The car just drove off, seemingly satisfied. And Ellie and I were left, me with a possibly broken arm and her with a gash in her head and a skinned knee. Magda sat in the seat next to me, unresponsive. I tapped her on the shoulder, lightly._

" _Magda, Magda, please wake up," I said, starting to get worried. I checked her pulse. Nothing. I glanced at Ellie, and she seemed to get what I was saying._

" _If we call the police, you know they'll blame us. We're drunk," she exclaimed, "Come on, let's get out of here," she gestured towards the car door._

" _But, what do we do about Magda," I stared at the unmoving creature next to me._

" _We make it look like she was driving," Ellie finally convinced me to do this, even though I was hesitant. The two of us carefully picked up her bloody body and moved her over to the driver's seat. Then, we ran back home. I had come up with a fib that I had tripped and fell while Ellie and I were playing baseball outside. But, I didn't really care. I ran up to my room, and collapsed on the bed. What have I done, I thought. What have I done._

"I can still remember the feeling that shot through me once I had processed it all. I felt so bad, I wished I could turn back time to avoid making that mistake. But, I knew I couldn't. And I'm still living with the guilt today." I finished. Ezra, who could tell I was upset, took me into his arms and comforted me, rubbing my back gently.


	6. Guess Who's Back?

**A/N: Please review!**

"Hey Mad, can I check the weather on your phone? Mine's out of battery?" I asked Maddie, while she nodded. I walked over to the counter, where Maddie's phone was binging from an incoming text. Bing bing, bing bing. I looked at her phone and saw what the text read; Devil Child, you're next. I opened up her phone to find a history of texts from a Blocked ID:

 _Devil Child, I've got you figure out_

 _Devil Child, I know what you did_

 _Devil Child, tell your daddy he's in trouble_

 _Devil Child, tell your mommy she's the worst_

 _Devil Child, you're next_

Suddenly, it all came back to me. Lying awake for hours on end in high school, trying desperately to fall asleep but every time that I did, an image of that faceless, nameless beast would pop up. I would sit up in bed, scared half out of my mind. Was this the next A?

"Jay, can I see your phone for a sec?" I asked, curious to know if he had gotten the same texts. I pulled up his messaging app, and plain to see was:

 _Fili mali, I know you_

 _Fili mali, you ruined his life_

It was starting again. I knew it.

 **A/N: Sorry, this one is very short. Next one is longer, I promise!**


	7. In This Together

_**A/N: Please Review!**_

No. This isn't happening again. It isn't. I know I have to talk to my kids about this, but I can't bring myself to be sucked back into that wormhole. I'll talk to Ezra first. Yes, that's what I'll do. I'll talk to him, then I'll tell the kids. They don't even know about my experiences with cyber bullies like this new stalker who keeps calling my children "Devil Child," And "Fili Mali," (Bad son, in Latin) When [insert whoever is 'Uber A' from 6B] turned out to be A, I thought it was finally over. Heck, I even thought it was over when Mona was revealed. Then came CeCe. Then came [insert whoever is Uber A from 6B]. And now, we're starting all over again! Just great. And what's even worse, is that this person isn't targeting me. He/she/it is targeting my children. _MY_ children, and I'm not okay with it.

Huh. I never knew what it felt like for my parents to sit through all the torture that I had to go through. Now, well, I guess I do; that protective instinct has kicked in.

But the one difference between then and now, is that I know what's going on. I know how to deal with it; and so does Ezra. And, I know we can beat this. It's not like we haven't done it before.

 _Beep. Beep._ There goes my phone.

"Crap," I exclaim as I read the incoming message.

 _Miss Aria, you thought you could get away with it, didn't you, sweetie?_

Feeling the need to figure this monster out, I replied back.

 _Get away with what, idiot?_

… And got a response immediately.

 _Unknown: Does the name 'Magda' ring a bell?_

 _Me: It's none of your business._

 _Unknown: It's my job to stick my nose where it doesn't belong, sweetie._

 _Me: Who are you?_

 _Unknown: That's one secret I'll never tell._

 _Me: Xoxo, Gossip Girl._

 _Unknown: Excuse me?_

 _Me: Nothing, it's from a TV show._

 _Unknown: I know. And I can't believe you're comparing me to Dan. He was such an amateur._

 _Me: Do I know you?_

 _Unknown: Yes, darling. Now shut up, or I'll shut you up._

With that, I decided to stop texting. Okay, I recuperated in my head. So I know this person. That doesn't really help. I know a lot of people. I should probably call Ezra now, we really need to talk.

"Hey, Ezra," I spoke nervously into the phone.

"Hey babe. What's up?"

"Ezra, there's something that I really need to tell you. Can you come home?" I told him, realizing that I have been in this exact situation before.

"I'm in the middle of something at work. Can you tell me over the phone?" I could hear him sighing in the background.

"I'm sorry, but it's really important. And we need to do this face to face," I reminded him.

"Okay, be there soon."

…

Soon after, Ezra returned home, only to find me nervously pacing and biting my fingernails off. He crept up behind me, squeezing my shoulders and causing me to jump.

As I turned around, I sighed in relief, "Oh, god, you scared me,"

"What was it you wanted to tell me?" I could see worry in his eyes.

"Well, um, Maddie and Jay kinda sorta got texts…" He narrowed his eyes at me, "And then I kinda sorta got some too…." He looked at me again to see what I was implying. "Ezra, I think it's happening again!" I whisper-shouted.

"Happening… as in… A?!" He exclaimed, probably louder than he should have. I nodded and looked at my feet. Seeing that I was upset, he pulled me into his arms and pecked a kiss on my lips. But, the makeout session was interrupted with a loud bing, coming directly from Ezra's pocket. He pulled his phone out of his back pocket slowly, praying silently that it wasn't a text from… you know who.

 _Former Fitzgerald, didn't you know I was always watching?_

"Oh my god," He breathed. "It really is happening again,"

 **A/N: Again, plz review… or else… Jk, nothing will happen to you if you don't review but I'd appreciate it! On another note, Next Chapter, we will continue along this path and get to the 36 hr flash-forward (finally!)**


	8. Past and Present

_**A/N: Here's the update! Finally! As I mentioned last chapter, we will finally get to what happened during the 36-hr flash forward this chapter - so stay tuned!**_

"Oh god, oh god, I can't believe this!" I shouted. "I thought we were done with all of this A stuff,"

Ezra glanced at his watch. "Shoot. Aria, we have to pick up the kids. It's three, we're late already," We ran to the car, got in, and he drove us off to the school.

When we got there, we saw Jay, patiently waiting for us at the corner. I ran out of the car to greet him. "Where's Maddie?" I asked. "It's already 3:30, where is she?" I was suddenly worried that she was in danger. Especially now that I knew A was back, I was on-edge, wary of my every step. Oh god, oh god, oh god. Where could she be?

"Oh!" I exclaimed. "I almost forgot. We can track her phone!" I quickly pulled my phone out of my back pocket and opened up my phone-tracking app. "It says she's in two different locations. Okay, I'll go to one of them with the car, and you two can get a cab to the other," I jumped in the car, suddenly scared for my child's safety. I drove as fast as I could handle, not caring that I could barely make out what was in front of me; it was so dark. I finally reached my destination, and I flung open the door and ran to the edge of the cliff. On the other side, I could see a shadowy figure pushing my daughter off of the cliff. "Nooooo," I screamed, my voice hoarse and tears beginning to well up in my eyes.

My heart skipped a beat as I saw that my daughter was still holding onto the cliff, screaming for dear life.

…..

"Aria," called a figure with dark brown hair styled in tousled waves, and suited in a red coat.

"Alison?"

"No, it's Vivian," the dark figure responded. I took a moment to think.

"Vivian. Vivan Darkbloom? You're real? I thought you were just Ali's alias?"

She chucked. "No. I'm as real as you are,"

I sighed, forgetting for a moment that she was the one who saved my child's life.  
"Thank you," I reached in and hugged her, as she exchanged the hug.

"No problem," she shrugged. She definitely didn't have Ali's voice. But there was a certain quality about the voice that I did recognize.

"Come on, Mad. Let's go," I lent a hand to my daughter, pulling her up. "See you later, Vivian," I waved, and she did the same.

I brought Maddie into my car, and helped her calm down. I dialed a number that I had called many times before on my cellphone.

"Ezra, hey," I sighed into the phone.

"Aria! Did you find her?" He asked, worried.

"I did. She's okay. I'll tell you what happened later, okay?"

"Sure," he paused. "Honey, there's something I need to tell you,"

"What?" What could be be hiding from me?

"I think Holbrook's the stalker. Remember how I told you he was here? Well, I think I just saw him. In his car, behind us. I think he was following Jay and I,"

"Wow, that's weird. We'll talk soon, okay. I'm bringing Maddie to the hospital to see if she was injured. Meet you there?"

"Yes. Love you," He whispered.

"Love you too,"

 _ **A/N: Hope you liked it! Next chapter, we'll learn a bit more about Holbrook, and what he's doing in Iceland. And, Jana and Ariel will be back too! Don't forget to review!**_


	9. History Repeats Itself

**A/N: Okay, so this chapter starts off two days after where we left off. Just in case you don't remember, Maddie almost fell off a cliff, but some anonymous figure managed to save her just in time. In addition, we also met Vivian Darkbloom, who, by the way, is not Alison. In the time that's** **off screen, Ezra and Aria took Maddie to the doctor, who said she was completely fine, just shaken up with a few minor cuts. Like I said last chapter, in this one, Holbrook, Jana and Ariel will be back, so we'll get to hear more about them. Enjoy!**

"Maddie, Jay, your father and I need to talk to you. It's important," I beckoned them over to the sofa where Ezra and I were sitting impatiently. From the looks of it, Ezra was more nervous than I was, because he his hand was clutching mine so tightly I thought my hand might burst. "Ezra…." He raised his eyebrows at me in curiosity, but I couldn't finish my sentence.

Maddie and Jay both sat down on the sofa, and looked at us nervously. "So," Maddie started. "What's up?"

Ezra and I looked at each other for a split second before both saying, "Well, we have something to tell you," At the exact same time. Must be some kind of husband/wife connection that we have. I squint my eyes at him, signaling for him to keep talking.

"So, um, the other day, we saw some texts on both of your phones," I noticed he wasn't making eye contact with the kids. Gosh, he must be really nervous.

Maddie and Jay narrowed their eyes at us, in sync. "Why were you on _our_ phones?" Maddie blurted out, before looking down.

Ezra glanced at me for a second before continuing. "That's besides the point. You guys got texts from an unknown number. They were calling you, "Devil Child," and "Fili Mali,"

"You were getting them too?" Jay asked, and Maddie nodded.

"Wait, I'm not done yet." So, Ezra and I explained how we also received texts. We went even farther back in time to rehash the events of the first, "A," Mona, then the second, Charlotte, then the third, [insert name of Uber A]. We told them how my friends and I had been stalked and tortured, even being put in a human dollhouse at one point. We explained how after Charlotte was unmasked, we thought that was the end. But, then, five years later, A made a triumphant return. The one thing we didn't include in our little story, was how Ezra and I met each other. Well, technically we met in a bar, but the next time we met was in a classroom. I figured we'd leave that little tale for another time. At the end of our quite lengthy story, both of our children just sat there, mouths agape, eyes wide.

"Oh. My. God," Maddie gasped. "I _cannot_ believe you went through all that. So, do you think it's that new, "A" person who pushed me off the cliff?"

I figured the whole falling-off-a-cliff incident was still a touchy subject, so I just nodded my head.

"Do you know who would want to hurt you? Who would want to hurt _us_?" Jay questioned, scratching the back of his head.

I just shook my head, "Not really. There are some people we know from our past that are here, so maybe one of them could be the culprit,"

"Like who?" Maddie asked, curious.

"Well, my high school girlfriend is here, and so is her son. A cop that used to work for Rosewood is here. And so are some people that Aria- your mother- used to know when her family stayed here for a year,"

"Wait, why would your high school girlfriend care about us? And that cop, what about him?"

Ezra and I looked at each other, not exactly sure on how to address this question. I finally spoke up, "Well, um, the cop kind of had it out for my friends and I, so maybe he still doesn't like me,"

"And the people you knew from when you came to Iceland with Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Mike?"

I sighed. I really didn't want to tell them the whole Magda story, but I knew I had to. I explained how my friends and I were, um, intoxicated, and we got into a car crash. At the end of the story, I made sure to throw in a motherly lesson, to never, ever, ever drive while you're drunk. And, for the second time today, I left them speechless, their mouths open wide.

"Wow," They said in unison.

"So why might these people have it out for you?" Maddie's hazel eyes stared into my matching ones, as she played with the hem of her navy blue skirt.

"Well, Ariel was in love with Magda. He's never really forgiven me for what I did. He also has a wife, Jana, who he claims he's not in love with. But, Jana and I were friends when we were younger, and she doesn't know about Magda, so if anyone has it out for us, I'd bet it's Ariel,"

Ezra nodded, portraying his silent agreeal.

"I'm going to go to the grocery store, pick up a few things for lunch. You guys going to be okay?" I ask my kids, making a grocery list in my head. They both nod, as I get up off the sofa to put my shoes on and head outside.

When I get to the grocery store, I speed through the aisles, picking up everything I need. Suddenly, the store alarm goes off and I see a black-hooded figure rush out of the store. Outside, police cars rush up to the curb, and officers jump out of their cars, eager to apprehend the villain. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot a familiar face.

"Holbrook?" My eyes narrow at what looks like a cop I once knew.

"Aria Montgomery. It's been a while," He nods

"Certainly has," I say, acknowledging the fact that we haven't seen each other for almost thirty years. He still looks about the same, just grayer. "So, what brings you here?"

"Well, my friend, Preston, and his family, Maggie and Malcolm, are vacationing here for a month, so I decided to come with them and do a little work for a case that I'm trying to crack. And you?" He looks straight into my eyes.

"My family and I are visiting,"

"Ah, yes, I saw Ezra the other day," A smirk grows on his face. I nod in agreement, remembering that Ezra had told me about this encounter. "Ok, I got to go. See you around," He waves goodbye, and I remember the last time we saw him. It was when he was forced to take a leave of absence from the Rosewood PD. In some ways, it seems like he's changed. In other ways, not so much.

I hop in my car, staring at my reflection in the rear view mirror. I look like some awful, sleep deprived zombie. I have large bags under my eyes that clearly stand out, a piece of sleepy sand in the corner of my eye, my hair's a mess and so is my makeup. Despite all that, I knew if Ezra was here, he'd tell me I looked beautiful.

I slide the ignition key into its spot and start up the car. I press down lightly on the pedal and begin to drive down the cobblestone road. After a while, I start to notice that a certain black volvo has been driving behind me for a while. Are they following me? Could that be A, or whoever our new cyber stalker is? I pull over, to see if I really am being followed. The black volvo pulls up behind me. So I wasn't just being paranoid. This guy, whoever it is, is following me. I step out of the car to try and get a good look at the driver. The driver speeds away before I can really get a good look; but I was almost certain of who it was. Ariel.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! Sorry it took me a while to post this, I was on vacation for a couple days. Anyways, don't forget to review!**


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